KOCHI: Rahul honks his way into the shabby street. Bleating goats cross the road as he parks his car near the pink mosque and walks past the narrow lanes eying matchbox sized shops showcasing CDs and electronics. His fingers slide through the dust clad racks stacked with movies as he breaks into a conversation with the shopkeeper, who probably knows more about foreign cinema than a movie critic. Rahul who goes back home with CDs of ‘Haywire’ and ‘Children of Heaven’ doesn’t exactly support piracy, but he admits that, in a practical world, such shops have their own role to play.Where else will I get Kim Ki Duk movies? Moreover I always prefer the quietness of my bedroom to the cacophony of a movie theatre. My last trip to a theatre to watch ‘2012’ was awful. A couple of drunk guys sitting next to me, passed out watching the airplane escape the falling towers. They almost puked on people sitting in the front. I cringed at goofy screwball comments like “de nokkeda aeroplane!” “odikko building idinju veezhum”. Agreed these are laughable, but they killed the movie for me. And what can one do when one wants to watch foreign films which don’t make their way to the local theatres?,” says Rahul Pillai as he fixes his eyes once again to the LED television in his room, where in a bookstore, ‘Sun-hwa’ tears a page from an art book that she cannot afford to buy.On the table next to Rahul’s bed lies the day’s newspaper and in it is an anchor story that said, “37,000 pirated CDs seized, 5 dealers arrested.”Rafeeq S, the khakhi-clad hero of this case has a lot to say. “We traced the culprits and found their roots in Bangalore. After further investigation we strongly suspect the strings are being controlled by a UK-based guy,” he adds.In just 5 months, the anti-piracy cell has seized over 55,000 CDs and imprisoned almost 30 culprits. Majority of these culprits fall in the age group of 25 to 30. If found guilty they are subjected to three years imprisonment and are made to pay a huge sum as penalty. “We have almost succeeded in curbing the production of camera prints of new Malayalam movies,” claims Rafeeq S, the Deputy Superintendent of Police who is a movie buff himself and saw ‘Mayamohini’ and ‘Ordinary’ in the releasing week itself!Kerala Chalachitra Academy is doing its bit by bringing in foreign movies and conducting movie fests like the recent Oscar movie fest!Piracy isn’t a new fad. Remember the war waged by Navodaya Appachan when pirated cassettes of ‘Chanakya’ were unearthed? For any director, his movie is his find and flesh, so however we try to justify or mellow down the piracy scenario they find it hard to cope with.“Nothing changes the fact that piracy is ethically wrong! Can you ever justify printing fake currency notes, isn’t this similar?,” blurts out director Aashiq Abu.In 2010, ‘Striker’, a Siddharth-starrer Bollywood movie was the first ever Indian film to premiere on YouTube internationally on the same day as its theatrical release. Hence it made pots of money, despite being a low-budget movie. Are Malayalam directors open to such methods?“Why not? Personally I also feel that there is no harm in bringing out CDs or torrent downloads of movies once their commercial value has been exploited,” says director Shyamaprasad in a relaxed tone.Both directors unanimously think that a website charging a minimal amount for downloading movies is a viable alternative. So, the solution is in sight, but who will bell the cat?
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